Current Events and U.S. Diplomacy

Assignment 1: The Cold War and US Diplomacy

May 5th, 2018

The Cold War and US Diplomacy

1. Summarize a situation that required U.S. diplomatic efforts during the president’s time in office.

President Obama took over power as the US president in 2009 immediately after the 2008 great recession. This means that Obama took over during a time when the US was recovering from economic turndowns, and hence his government was required to establish policies that would help the country recover from the situation. Again, Obama was elected in a time when there was a high rate of Iranian immigrants in the US as a result of the war in Iraq, Palestine, and Israel as a result of wars in these regions (Birkenthal, 2013). The high numbers of immigrants in the US made it hard for the incoming government to address the issue of economic turndown and this forced the president first to apply diplomatic efforts to address the Iraq war as well as the conflict between Palestine and Israel. On April 23rd, 2007, Obama gave his foreign policy speech during the Chicago Council of Global Affairs. One of the key issues addressed was putting an end to Iraq war by removing US militants from Iraq and instead focus on the Afghanistan conflict.

Again, in the Muslim world, there were threats that nuclear weapons were being manufactured that could cause massive damage to the US and other countries as well. In this regards, President Obama in his foreign policy claimed that his government would deal with terrorists and make sure that acts of terrorism do not affect the world again (Birkenthal, 2013). In efforts to establish a positive relationship with other countries, the president also requested for the reopening of Gaza borders to allow peace talks between Israeli's and the Palestinians to take place. With these foreign policy measures in place, it was possible for the US to establish a good and working relationship with other countries.

2. Explicate the diplomatic doctrine the president followed, concerning specific actions or events that occurred.

Looking at the actions that President Obama took to address the foreign policy, the president made use of the Nixon Doctrine that was developed in 1969 by the then US president Richard Nixon. The Nixon doctrine stated that the US would, by all means, assist in the development and defense of allies and friends. However, the doctrine had a disclaimer in that the US would not undertake all the defense of free nations around the world. According to the doctrine, every country around the world was in full charge of its security, but the US would instead act as a nuclear umbrella whenever the need arises. Again, the doctrine claimed that for the sake of peace through a quality partnership with its allies, the US would come in to save the ally and ensure that the country enjoys the peace and a good relationship is maintained between the two countries.

The Nixon doctrine is said to be the diplomacy doctrine that President Obama followed because all his efforts were focused on making sure that the US government granted US allies that were suffering from wars and internal conflicts possible assistance. For instance, the US government strived to send diplomats from the US and international bodies to assist with negotiations in warring countries. This move was meant to make sure that conflicting countries that are friends of the US are at peace and through such efforts; the US can build a stronger relationship with its allies and friends (Sterio, 2016). Again, the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq was a US strategy to establish peace in Iraq by the US stopping to interfere with Iraq's security issues because Iraq is a free country that should be in charge of its security. Nevertheless, on security matters like terrorism that affects the general welfare of a big number of people, the US took upon itself to address the issue.

3. The effects of the diplomatic efforts applied for the U.S. and other countries.

The diplomatic efforts that the US under the Obama doctrine embarked on had a series of positive effects on the US and other countries as well. One of the effects is that the US promoted its relationship with other countries and this made it possible for the US to interact and even trade with countries like Iraq that it could not interact or trade with before the diplomatic efforts. The latter is in the sense that when the US troops were keeping guard within Iraq territories, the government of Iraq and the people were not happy as they felt that their sovereignty was being undermined. It was for this reason that Iraq could target and attack the US in efforts to force the US government to recall their troops from Iraq (Sterio, 2016). With the application of the Obama doctrine where the troops were recalled, the Iranian people felt that the US has started to respect their privacy and governance and the lost relationship was rebuilt.

The other countries also benefited from the diplomatic efforts put in place by the US. The reason is that some countries like Palestine and Israel that had been at war for a long time had their issues addressed. The establishment of peace helped the misplaced immigrants to go back to their countries and start to rebuild their lives, country and economy (Sterio, 2016). A majority of countries has ever since been able to develop and trade with the US and other developed countries something that has made the world a better place than before. Again, countries that were adversely affected as a result of terrorist acts were liberated thus making these countries to have stable internal security and governance.

4. Assess, in conclusion, the advantages, and disadvantages of the particular doctrine that was followed.

Opening the Gaza borders as a way of promoting international relations between the US and other countries has some advantages and disadvantages as well. One of the advantages is that the US was able to trade and receive support in its diplomatic efforts from a higher number of countries than before the diplomatic doctrine was embraced (Holmes, Nau, & Dale, 2010). Since the border was opened, the US has recorded a higher economic growth and a big number of countries support various US missions like rescuing countries being faced with conflicts. However, the opening of the Gaza borders has a disadvantage, especially to the US. The reason is that it opened loopholes that criminals could use to access the US easily than before the doctrine. For instance, terrorists could use the border point to enter and exit the US and execute its activities with much ease than before. Another disadvantage is that the doctrine made it possible for illegal immigrants to access the US. The reason is that a big number of immigrants could use the border point to find their way into the US without proper documentation. It was after this doctrine that the US recorded the highest number of immigrants hence causing scarcity of resources in the US.

References

Birkenthal, S. M. (2013). Grand Strategy in US Foreign Policy: The Carter, Bush, and Obama Doctrines.

Holmes, K. R., Nau, H. R., & Dale, H. (2010). The Obama Doctrine: Hindering American Foreign Policy. The Heritage Foundation, 29.

Kazemzadeh, M. (2010). The Emerging Obama Doctrine. American Foreign Policy Interests, 32(3), 194-195.

Sterio, M. (2016). President Obama's Legacy: The Iran Nuclear Agreement. Case W. Res. J. Int'l L., 48, 69.